diff --git a/src/wallet/api/wallet_manager.cpp b/src/wallet/api/wallet_manager.cpp
index a64766c84..2326f54d3 100644
--- a/src/wallet/api/wallet_manager.cpp
+++ b/src/wallet/api/wallet_manager.cpp
@@ -434,12 +434,14 @@ std::string WalletManagerImpl::resolveOpenAlias(const std::string &address, bool
     return addresses.front();
 }
 
-std::tuple<bool, std::string, std::string, std::string, std::string> WalletManager::checkUpdates(const std::string &software, const std::string &subdir)
+std::tuple<bool, std::string, std::string, std::string, std::string> WalletManager::checkUpdates(const std::string &software, std::string subdir)
 {
 #ifdef BUILD_TAG
     static const char buildtag[] = BOOST_PP_STRINGIZE(BUILD_TAG);
 #else
     static const char buildtag[] = "source";
+    // Override the subdir string when built from source
+    subdir = "source";
 #endif
 
     std::string version, hash;
diff --git a/src/wallet/wallet2_api.h b/src/wallet/wallet2_api.h
index 4d734ab94..12dd8c859 100644
--- a/src/wallet/wallet2_api.h
+++ b/src/wallet/wallet2_api.h
@@ -869,7 +869,7 @@ struct WalletManager
     virtual std::string resolveOpenAlias(const std::string &address, bool &dnssec_valid) const = 0;
 
     //! checks for an update and returns version, hash and url
-    static std::tuple<bool, std::string, std::string, std::string, std::string> checkUpdates(const std::string &software, const std::string &subdir);
+    static std::tuple<bool, std::string, std::string, std::string, std::string> checkUpdates(const std::string &software, std::string subdir);
 };